In his column for the Independent, Warnock revealed: "We had a young lad there (at Crystal Palace) who had come over from Ghana to play in a junior tournament and clearly wanted to stay in Britain. He told us he was 15 years old, though he was very reluctant to tell us anything about who he was or where he had come from. He had no passport. What he did have was bags of ability. In fact, I've never seen such a talented 15-year-old.

"Palace helped him in a way that I've never seen any club support a young player. They spent a year coaching him and giving him all the support he needed. They made sure he was living in a safe environment and had money in his pocket. When Palace played Manchester City I went out of my way to introduce him to Emmanuel Adebayor.

"However, without a passport he had problems staying here. The club worked tirelessly to help him. I went to four meetings with the immigration people in Croydon to speak on his behalf.

"Then one day, without even telling us, he vanished. We couldn't get hold of him at his home and never saw or heard from him again. His name was Abdul Razak.

"I read the other day about an 18-year-old African player who made his debut for Manchester City earlier this month.

"You can imagine how the steam came out of my ears when I read this, after all the time and help we had given him."